Giavanni
An Italian masculine name derived from the Hebrew "Yohanan" meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 423 living Americans carry the first name Giavanni. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Giavanni today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Giavanni births was 2024 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Giavanni. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
423
~ 1 in 810,294 Americans
Peak year
2024
23 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#5,483
Tracked since 1991
Gender
Gender distribution for Giavanni
Giavanni is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 428 total registrations, 112 (26.2%) were male and 316 (73.8%) were female.
Giavanni as a male name
- Ranked #12,991 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
Giavanni as a female name
- Ranked #5,483 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (23 births)
Popularity
Giavanni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Giavanni from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 140 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Giavanni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Giavanni by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Giavanni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Giavanni
The given name Giavanni has its origins in the Italian language and dates back to the medieval period. It is a variant spelling of the more common Italian name Giovanni, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious."
During the Middle Ages, the name Giavanni was primarily used in regions of Italy, particularly in the northern and central parts of the country. It gained popularity among Catholic families as a way to honor Saint John the Baptist, who played a significant role in Christian tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Giavanni can be found in the 13th-century literary work "Divina Commedia" (The Divine Comedy) by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. In this epic poem, Dante mentions a character named Giavanni Gualberto, who was a real-life figure and the founder of the Vallumbrosan monastic order.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Giavanni. One prominent figure was Giavanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), an Italian writer best known for his masterpiece "The Decameron," a collection of novellas that provided a unique glimpse into the social and cultural landscape of 14th-century Italy.
Another famous bearer of the name was Giavanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), an Italian Renaissance composer widely regarded as the greatest master of the polyphonic style of music composition. His works, particularly his sacred music, had a profound influence on the development of Western classical music.
In the field of art, Giavanni Bellini (1430-1516) was a celebrated Venetian Renaissance painter known for his groundbreaking contributions to the development of Venetian painting. His works, such as the iconic "Pieta" and "The Feast of the Gods," are considered masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance period.
Giavanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) was an Italian artist renowned for his etchings of ancient Roman ruins and architectural fantasies. His intricate and detailed prints had a significant impact on the neoclassical and romantic movements in art and architecture.
Finally, Giavanni Verga (1840-1922) was an influential Italian writer and one of the leading figures of the verismo literary movement. His novels and short stories, such as "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Mastro Don Gesualdo," provided a realistic and poignant portrayal of the struggles and hardships faced by the rural working class in Sicily.
People
Giavanni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Giavanni as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Giavanni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Giavanni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 423 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Giavanni going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 810,294 US residents.
Is Giavanni a common name?
We classify Giavanni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Giavanni most popular?
The single biggest year for Giavanni was 2024, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Giavanni is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Giavanni a female name?
Yes, 73.8% of people registered as Giavanni in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.